At the intermediate level, you are already comfortable with the basics of conversation: hellos and goodbyes, exchanging pleasantries, and giving information about yourself and what you are doing. Intermediate-level conversation sessions should help you build on these skills by filling in gaps in your vocabulary and helping you master more grammatical structures. You will begin to create longer sentences and express feelings about or describe concrete topics.

When you come to your session…

Come Well Prepared

• When you go over the dialogues and examples of new grammar and vocabulary, you will find some familiar terms, as well as new ones. Keep careful track of all new words you are learning in a notebook or on a computer. Make flashcards for all of them as well (Also see: Why Use Flashcards? and related articles).

• It’s likely that your assignments will include longer dialogues, or longer readings, which you will need to dissect and analyze. Use highlighters and sticky notes (or other tools you find useful) to draw your eye to new words, phrases, or grammatical concepts. You and your conversation partner might act out a dialogue or share your thoughts on a reading, so it’s important to have studied them ahead of time.

• The listening component of your study is still very important. When you listen to audio sources, try to emulate what you hear. Your pronunciation will benefit if you keep practicing throughout the week in addition to your conversation sessions. Don’t be afraid to speak to the wall, the mirror, or a friend in order to sound out the new dialogues and listening exercises that you have each week.

Come with Questions

Keep track of your questions about all new material. At the intermediate level, you are expected to always ask questions in your target language, and switch to English only when absolutely necessary. At the beginner level, you practiced asking, “What does _ mean?” Now, look up how to ask for more specific questions or explanations, i.e., “Is this a noun?” or “Please explain this to me.”

Push Yourself

You are already comfortable with simple conversation, and this is a perfect time to build on that foundation. Ask yourself what else you can say to create more conversation: 

• In your sessions, think of an extra detail, an opinion, or an experience you can add to what you’re saying. For example, if you are role playing buying clothes you might say, “I want this shirt.” What else could you add? “I want a very soft shirt. Cotton shirts are my favorite. I’ll go to school every day in this shirt,” etc.

What you can add will depend on the vocabulary and grammar concepts you have learned in your course so far. What is important is that you can start bringing a new thought or idea into each encounter. Forcing yourself to think hard to use what you already know improves your ability to think on your feet and say what you mean. For more tips on having successful conversations, see the articles under: Strategies for Conversations.